Of Time Travel and Poisoned Apples
by Sri Starlz
Summary: "The shell came crashing down on him, wires connecting and flickering, trapping him inside it. Dan tried to push it away, but it was too heavy. He watched, alarmed, as the metal shell started to heat and shudder. Then he fell unconscious." For KatnissCahill's Time Machine contest.


**A/N: Hello. :) **

**I honestly don't know why I wrote this... well, it's for Kat's contest 'cause I signed myself up for that, but otherwise... not one of my favorite/best pieces. Read if you want to. 8P**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the 39 clues.**

* * *

"YOU CAN'T!"

"I CAN SO!"

"OH YEAH? LET'S SEE IT!"

"FINE!"

"FINE!"

Hamilton jerked away and stomped off angrily. How dare those stupid, snarky Starling brothers insinuate he couldn't build a time machine just as well as them? He'd show them. He'd build one and go back to 1506 and squirt ketchup in Katherine's hair and—

"Yo, Hammy-dawg, why you so mad?"

The Hammer looked up and made a face when he saw his famous popstar cousin emerging from a room, cracking his knuckles. "Nothing."

"You look like you 'bout to punch somethin'," Jonah wisecracked. "What up? I want in."

Hamilton thought for a second. Jonah could be smart at times, when the solemnity of the matter got through to him… And he was a good pal.

Ham slung his huge arm over his cousin's shoulders and steered him down the hallway conspiratorially. "'Kay. See…"

* * *

Dan was on the verge of winning. His character was so close to… He stabbed at the buttons frantically, almost panicking at the thought of losing. There was just… one obstacle… left to jump… over…

"Dan-o!"

The booming voice startled him. He dropped his controller, and his character crashed into the obstacle. Dan stared at the screen for a moment. _What… that one obstacle… the finish—_

"D-dawg!" Jonah's voice echoed through the room. Dan turned to face his two usually favorite cousins slowly.

"We need your help, Dan—" Hamilton began.

"Do. You. Know. How close. I was. I thought you two knew the call of the videogame," Dan said quietly, furiously.

Both Jonah and Hamilton were taller and buffer than him, but they backed away as he approached. "HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?! I WAS SO CLOSE! I WAS GOING TO WIN—"

"We're sorry, dude!" Jonah said, holding up his hands defensively. "We need your help!"

Dan glared at them. "With _what?!_"

Hamilton swallowed and stepped forward. "I sorta made a bet… with the Starling triplets… that I could build a time machine…"

"I'll get you whatever videogame you want, cuz," Jonah said quickly. "The latest, oldest, whatever."

Dan considered for a moment. "I'm in."

* * *

"We need you to sneak in and grab the equipment from the lab," Hamilton explained, gesturing at the lab window from outside.

Dan grinned down at his black ninja costume. Perfect for breaking and entering. Ham and Jonah slowly hoisted open the window, and Dan slipped in quickly.

The Starling triplets were on the other side of the enormous lab, near the door. It didn't seem like they'd noticed him yet. He started creeping out, looking for the 'equipment'. Then he realized he had no idea what it was supposed to be.

He looked at the window, but his cousins were nowhere in sight. And it didn't seem like he could hoist up the heavy window by himself and escape without making his presence known. _Oh, well, I'll just have to snoop around a bit then._

Dan peered around the edge of a table and noticed something black scattered across the ground. He inhaled before realizing what it was. Trying hard not to sneeze, he scrambled away. _Pepper!_

In his haste, he didn't see the chair in his way and banged his head on one of its legs.

Ted Starling turned sharply. "What was that?"

Dan crawled under the table and crouched down as low as he could, propping a book up to hide himself from Sinead, who came to investigate. She took a brief look around and went back to her brothers. "Nothing, it must've been a rat."

Dan peeked out from under the table cautiously. He moved to a corner of the lab room, where there was a pile of equipment on the floor. He saw the words 'Time Machine' and caught his breath. They had all the equipment for the thing right here.

He slowly filled a heavy cardboard box with loose pieces and dragged it to the window. Then he hoisted a huge iron shell with wires sticking out of it and made his way to the box when he slipped.

The shell came crashing down on him, wires connecting and flickering, trapping him inside it. Dan tried to push it away, but it was too heavy. He watched, alarmed, as the metal shell started to heat and shudder.

Then he fell unconscious.

* * *

Sinead ran over to the noise and looked around. Ned picked his way over to her, and they both saw a black shoe on the ground.

Nothing else.

Ted went over to the window and peered outside. Hamilton and Jonah stared at him. "What happened?"

"Did you send someone over to mess with our time machine?!"

"What? No! Dan was just supposed to get the equip—"

Sinead marched over to the window. "You dumb Holt! Our time machine was already done, but we didn't test it! Dan is time traveling to God knows where, now!"

Jonah's eyes widened. "Epic fail, then."

* * *

_Ow. Ow, ow, owwiieeee…_

Dan was conscious of a blinding pain in his right arm. He yelled, and then tried to cover his ears when he realized his screams were echoing very loudly, right back to him. He opened his eyes.

Darkness. His nose wrinkled at the faint smell of burning metal. His left leg was pricking with pins and needles, and his right was asleep. His right arm was burning, and his left was squished under his body.

_Oh, just great._

Slowly, Dan withdrew his left arm from under him and reached up. His fingers brushed against warm metal.

It all rushed back to him. Getting trapped under the time machine, it heating up and transporting him here. He must have burned his right arm from the hot metal.

He became aware of a slight difficulty in breathing. _Oh, no, I have to get outta here or the oxygen's going to run out…_ He pushed against the top of the machine with both arms and legs. It lifted slightly. He saw light, and managed to wriggle outside.

Dan looked up and found that he was under a dining table. He crept out, holding his arm, and heard footsteps approaching. Immediately, he dived behind an open door and flattened himself against the wall, breathing as quietly as he could.

"Luke? Luke!" a girl's sharp voice yelled. "Luke!"

"What is it now, Katherine?" an annoyed voice called back.

"You took the pieces of the watch I was fixing, I _know_ you did! You just want to try to fix them so you can say you're smarter than me. But you're not! Give it back!"

Dan could see her now, as she stomped past. Short dark hair and a tall, slender form in breeches and an apron-type thing.

He heard soft footfalls and an equally angry looking guy emerged from the very door he was hiding behind. He looked older, but he had the same jet-black hair as Katherine. He was scowling. "I did not take it! Everyone knows I'm smarter, anyway—why do I have to prove myself?"

"Just being twenty-two doesn't make you smarter!" Katherine said loudly, glaring.

"Maybe not, but it means I don't have to waste my time talking to pesky little sisters!" Luke yelled, turning away.

"Luke…" another voice said. This girl was apparently softer and sweeter than the rest, as well as younger.

Luke's frown relaxed a bit. "I didn't mean you, Jane. Of course not."

Katherine was still glaring at him. "Luke, don't change the subject! Give me the watch!"

"You mean the _pieces_ of the watch?" Luke said mockingly. "I don't have either. Go find them, you probably misplaced them."

Katherine huffed and stalked away. Dan took a cautious breath. He'd realized where—no, _when_ he was: with the original branch founders, in 1506.

* * *

_I've got to get out of here. Ninjas know what Luke or Thomas might do to me if they caught me. Katherine seems wary and alert too—Jane's probably the safest one. As for the adults… well, I'll just have to hide from everyone._

Thinking this, Dan stepped out cautiously, only to retreat again when he heard footsteps. A tall, black-haired woman emerged from the doorway and wiped at her forehead briefly before hustling off again, a stressed look on her face.

Dan inhaled. The woman was very beautiful. She was undoubtedly Olivia, matriarch of all Cahills.

_Sooner or later, these people are going to discover me. I have to get back home—_

His stomach rumbled. He looked ruefully down at it. _Well, I need something to eat first._

Dan carefully stepped out again and peered around the door. He was in luck. It looked like what he expected a sixteenth-century kitchen to look like. There were no refrigerator or electric lights in sight, but he saw a small kerosene lamp and a box of matches next to it. He lit the fuse, picked it up and cautiously moved around the room.

He spotted something red on one of the wooden shelves around the room and went for it. Closing his hand around it, Dan realized it was an apple. _Better than nothing, I guess._ He bit into it quickly, swallowed a giant chunk—and realized it didn't taste right.

His mind flashed to the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. _Screw the hunger, I've got to get to the time machine and go home…_

He staggered back outside, trying to ignore the pounding in his ears. _Luke must've poisoned the apple as a prank… I ate it…_

He reached the table and let himself drop, scrabbling for the edge of the machine and lifting it with what meager strength he had left. He crawled under and curled up, somehow still clutching the poisoned apple tightly. Then he blacked out.

* * *

"It's back!" the Starlings yelled at the same time, running forward, but Amy beat them to it. They'd reluctantly told Amy what had happened. She'd spent ten minutes yelling at them, ten minutes throwing a hysterical fit, and a final ten minutes sitting absolutely, chillingly quietly in a corner, her shoulders hunched up. Ian had tried to talk to her, and so had Nellie, but of no use.

Now she rushed forward and threw up the machine with uncharacteristic force, dropping down beside her brother. He was unconscious. Amy shook him. "Dan? Dan. Answer me! Dan!"

Sinead crept up quietly and took Dan's wrist, checking for a pulse. It was very slow. Then she noticed the apple. She sniffed it carefully, and then handed it to her brothers. "Go analyze a piece and tell me if it's normal. It doesn't smell right."

Amy turned pale and started shaking her brother even harder. "Dan! I know you're alright. Come on!"

Jonah sprinkled some cold water over the unconscious boy. There was no change. Tears started streaming down Amy's cheeks. Nellie put her arms around her, but Amy tried to push her away. "Dan!"

The Starling brothers ran back at that moment, beaming. "Good news. There was a poison in that apple—"

Amy stiffened and turned sharply. "_What?!"_

"But it's very primitive. I'm pretty sure Ian and Natalie together with us will be able to find the antidote." They beckoned to the Kabras, who obediently followed them into the lab. Sinead rose and trudged after them. Amy inhaled deeply and forced herself to wait quietly.

Five minutes later, Natalie ran out, clutching a small glass vial of some transparent liquid. She handed it to Amy. "Pour it all in his mouth."

With trembling hands, Amy did so. There was still no change in Dan's countenance. Amy turned to look fearfully at Natalie, but the Kabra girl only shrugged. "You have to give it some time to spread through his bloodstream. He'll be fine."

Amy waited, her mind racing. After a bit, she noticed Natalie beckoning to Jonah, who still held the glass of water. "Pour it all on him."

Jonah stared at her. "Shouldn't I just… sprinkle it?"

Natalie scowled. "I said, pour it all on him. It'll be a shock; he'll wake up more quickly. Stimulants and all that."

Jonah shrugged and emptied the glass of water on Dan's face. The unconscious boy shuddered, gasped and opened his eyes—to be tackled by his older sister, who nearly crushed him before Nellie gently pried her off.

"Amy…?"

"Dan! I thought you were going to die!" The words tumbled over each other as she tried to hug him again.

Dan pulled away awkwardly and cracked a smile. "Jonah owes me a videogame, sis. I ain't dying without getting my reward."

* * *

**I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to read this looong thing. xD I hope you loved it, Kat, and all my other readers. :3**

**Thanks in advance to anybody who takes the time to review, too. 8)**

**~Sri**


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